


Art and Culture

by Arawynn



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Black Panther - Freeform, Black Reader, Other, Platonic Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 07:50:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14208549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arawynn/pseuds/Arawynn
Summary: You are a worldwide approved expert of African art and culture. The visit of an old friend turns everything upside down.





	Art and Culture

**Translations:**

Ubaba – Father (Xhosa)

Umama – Mother (Xhosa)

* * *

You were giving a group of students a guided tour through the National Museum of African Art. It was your favourite part of this job. Analysing new potential exhibits and classifying them – just _admiring_ them – was interesting as well. What you hated about being a worldwide approved and known expert of African art and culture were the many articles you had to write. It was boring, exhausting and time consuming, but you had to do it if you wanted to keep that position. And you did want to.

But working with people who were interested in the many-faceted art and culture of Africa? Pure joy. You loved teaching them. Loved sharing your knowledge. To show them new ways to think and act. Some students and pupils even returned with friends or family members who hadn’t visited the display.

Halfway through the tour, the students suddenly became oddly silent – even those few, who had been chatting and laughing nonstop. At the same time, trepidation arose at the other end of the group. It took them several seconds to retreat and open up a way. Your breath hitched when you saw _who_ stood there.

Okoye and Ayo. In full Dora Milaje Armour and with their Vibranium Spears. They exhaled pride, self-confidence and not taking any kind of nonsense. With their heads held high, they strode through the students without looking left or right, exactly in your direction. When the two warriors stood in front of you, they stroke the ground with the blunt end of their Spears. The sound of Vibranium on stone sent shivers down your spine.

After a few moments of absolute silence, the two women crossed their arms in front of their chests in the traditional Wakandan greeting. You returned the gesture. “Sister Y/F/N.”, Ayo spoke up. You barely noticed that she spoke Xhosa. It wasn’t often that you were called by your full name – you usually went by a nickname Americans could pronounce easier. There were still more than enough people who had problems with it.

“The King wishes to speak to you. Now.”, Okoye added, also speaking Xhosa. You nodded and turned to your assistant. “Kayla, you have to take over the tour. I must take care of this right now.”, you told her. The girl dropped her pen and stared at you as if you had suddenly grown two heads and a tail.

“I can’t just take over this tour!”, she protested. You pinched the bridge of your nose. Kayla was smart and really interested in your area of studies, but whenever she was supposed to deliver a speech offhand, she panicked. Usually, it didn’t bother you, but right now, your patience ran thin. “Then get them the headsets for the audio tour. I have to go.”, you told her firmly.

“Why do you have to go? Just because these two… _people_ …suddenly appeared?”, one of the students asked. “First of all, they’re members of the Dora Milaje. Wakandan elite warriors and the protectors of the King. So if they and especially General Okoye _suddenly appear,_ the King himself isn’t far away. And you don’t let a King wait if he specifically asked for you.”, you explained, your annoyance getting  more noticeable. The students talked among themselves excitedly while you followed Okoye and Ayo.

* * *

They lead you exactly to your office. In front of the door stood two more Dora Milaje who obviously kept guard. They acted as if they ignored everything and everyone around you, but you knew they noticed every single movement. With the tips of their Spears, they knocked at the door before opening it for you. Okoye and Ayo stayed behind with their comrades while you entered your office. It seemed like you had a private audience.

You needed a few seconds to detect King T’Challa. The office was rather dim and he wore a simple black suit. You crossed your arms in front of your chest and bowed to show him your respect. He returned the gesture, albeit without the bow. “My King. I heard what happened to your father. I am sorry for your loss.”, you said in a low voice. “Thank you, Y/F/N. But please, stop being so formal. We grew up together.”, T’Challa answered with a smile.

You grinned as well. “Tell me: why did you come here? It’s been quite a while since I saw one of us in person.”, you asked. “I want to lead Wakanda out of the isolation. I will not see people suffer while we’re able to help them.”, he answered serious. You raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me that’s the only reason you came here all the way from Wakanda. Tell me what you’re withholding.”

T'Challa chuckled. “You still know me too well, Y/F/N. And there **_is_** a reason I came to see you in person.”, he said. “I want to establish a Museum of Wakandan Art and Culture. And I want you as the head of it. There’s nobody as qualified as you.”, the King told you bluntly. You needed almost half a minute to actually comprehend what he had said.

“You want me as the leader of a museum about our culture and art?”, you asked finally, still completely flabbergasted. “No. I want you to design the building. I want you to select every single exhibit. All those art objects that have been intentionally classified wrong for generations – I want them to be classified properly. There’s nobody I’d trust with this more than you.”, T'Challa said with a passion you had rarely seen him show. It stroke a chord deep inside you.

“I will do this. But there’s one condition.”, you said slowly. “Whatever you want.”, your old friend promised. “I want ubaba and umama involved in this. The museum you talked about was always their dream.”, you answered with a lump in your throat. Your parents had passed their dream on to you. They had returned to Wakanda after retiring – after the world had started to accept you as expert of African art and culture.

The King smiled softly. “Of course. It was actually them who suggested the idea. And they hoped you’d want them to be involved.”, he admitted. You returned his smile. It should have been obvious that your parents would grasp at the opportunity to make their biggest dream come true.

“I have already started to hire people. Companies that give jobs to people who need the money and pay them properly. Everything is ready to start as soon as you’re ready.”, T'Challa informed you. “Send me their contact information. And now please excuse me, there are lots of museums I need to contact. There are at least one or two thousand Wakandan objects scattered all over the world – waiting to be properly classified.”, you said businesslike, but with a smile on your face.

“I’ll help you. There’s a meeting of the United Nations in a few hours. I intend to officially declare the end of our isolation – which will include a partly reveal of our true identity. And during that speech I will also announce that a Museum of Wakandan Art and Culture will be built.”, the King of Wakanda told you. “That would certainly help to gather the objects. Your word holds more weight than mine does.”, you answered softly.

T'Challa gently grabbed your shoulders. “I couldn’t do this alone. It needs your knowledge of African art and culture. And your name holds a lot of weight in certain circles as well. And those circles are important for this project to succeed.”, he said with a gentle smile. You couldn’t help but return it.

* * *

The next day, you came a full hour earlier into your office than usually. The meeting of the United Nations T'Challa had talked about had been during the night. You assumed many people would contact you about the museum. But you hadn’t assumed _how many_ mails and voice mails had been sent. The answering machine had every little bit of memory space used and the number of mails in your mail box was astronomically large.

When Kayla came into your office three hours later, you wanted nothing but crawl back into your bed. Most of the time, you had been simultaneously answering calls and mails the whole time. “Y/N Y/N Y/N!”, she shouted excitedly as she barged in your office. “Ijustheardthenewsisittruethatyou…”, the young woman continued, almost too fast to understand her. “Yes it is. That’s why King T'Challa wanted to talk with me yesterday.”, you interrupted her. It was almost the same question you had answered during the past three hours.

Nothing but a surprised little ‘Oh’ left Kara’s mouth. It was almost comically. “You’ll take care of the telephone today. I need to answer the mails in my inbox and there’s a ton of other mails I have to write. Just tell the people that there _will_ be a Museum of Wakandan Art and Culture and that every other question will be answered later.”, you instructed her. “Understood.”, she answered.

Meanwhile, you stepped up to the old secretaire that had been standing there since the day you had moved into the office. It was Wakandan and already several generations old, but the technology was still far more advanced than what was a matter of common knowledge. It scanned your tattoo from the outside in a matter of seconds and smoothly opened the secret hideaway where one of the biggest treasures of your family was hidden:

About two dozen books. Some of them leather-bound, others visibly new.

You gently took the oldest one and carried it across to your desk. “What’s this?”, Kayla asked awestruck. “A notebook. It contains a great deal of purposefully wrong classified objects.”, you answered and carefully opened the book. “Who would do something like that? And why?”, the young woman asked. “My family. Because every single object in this book and the other ones are Wakandan.”


End file.
